Posts in category Safety

Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear about another person I know getting their license to carry a firearm. Just as often we hear news of a similar sort announcing another area relaxing restrictions or of a court victory enforcing our 2nd amendment rights enshrined in the United States Constitution. Each of these little victories makes us each a little safer, but it also carries a reminder of the responsibilities shouldered by people who have made the decision to take charge of their own safety.

What I’m about to say next is just my own opinion, but I feel very strongly about it so I’ll be blunt: If you carry a firearm and you don’t have at least a rudimentary trauma kit that is quickly accessible, you are wrong.

Let that sink in for a minute.

If you have made the decision to carry a pistol then it only follows that you prepare to deal with the aftermath should you ever be forced to use it. Most people have heard the saying that “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.” The same thing can be said of emergency medical services. Without prompt action it is possible to bleed out from a major arterial wound in only a few minutes. By taking a few basic life-saving measures, especially with the assistance of a trauma kit, bleeding can be slowed enough to allow time for advanced medical support to arrive.

Now I’m not going to tell you to chase down and try to administer first aid to some bad guy you just shot out of self defense. In a violent encounter it is rare to find only one side injured. Whether you are providing care to yourself or to an innocent injured bystander, your actions could make the difference between life and death while you wait for help to arrive.

It’s not just others that such a kit can help. Simply having a trauma kit, on your person or nearby, could allow a bystander good Samaritan to render aid to you. Some commercial kits even have easy to understand instructions printed on laminated cards so that aid can be adequately rendered by an untrained individual if necessary.

Self defense incidents aren’t the only time a trauma kit can come become a lifesaver. Accidental (and negligent) discharges at the gun range can be just as deadly. Other more common accidents happen all the time, both on the highways, at work, and at home. A person doesn’t have to be suffering from a gunshot wound to require life-saving measures. Trauma can come in the form of major lacerations from an auto accident or a slip with a knife while preparing a meal. Whatever the cause of the trauma, it’s important to be prepared to respond quickly and assertively.

My point in all of this is that you have already made the decision to be prepared by becoming licensed to carry a firearm. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. You should also be prepared for the aftermath of the much more common household or auto accident that turns deadly.

There are a few different levels of trauma kits, also referred to as “blowout kits,” ranging from a full fledged corpsman’s kit down to the most bare bones trauma kit with only the most basic tools to stop bleeding. The larger and more advanced kits are great for keeping at home, at the range, or in your vehicle. The smaller kits are easily concealed in a purse, briefcase, or even a cargo pocket.

Don’t discount the small compact kits. Having a basic kit that fits in your cargo pocket is better than a fully fleshed out kit that you tend to leave in the house or in a vehicle. An example of this would be the IPOK (Individual Patrol Officer Kit) which fits conveniently and compactly into a plastic pouch. The components of a slightly better but still very basic kit such as our IFAK (individual first aid kit) usually consist of the following: nitrile gloves, gauze and bandages, a few yards of duct tape, and a blood stopper such as QuickClot or some other brand. Our Advanced IFAK Tactical Trauma Kit is a good step up from the IFAK with the addition of a tourniquet. More advanced kits than this, such as our blowout kits also have shears, a dedicated chest seal, and a tourniquet of some sort.

Needless to say it would be foolish to simply purchase a trauma kit and just assume that you are good to go. By the same token, you wouldn’t buy a pistol and get your license to carry without having had at least some very basic instruction. Tools, whether a firearm or a basic life-saving kit, are only as good as the person wielding them. You should pursue training on the use of these kits.

Additional training should be sought out every few years after that, not just to keep your skills sharp, but because medical doctrines change often with advancing technology and deeper understanding of the human body. The techniques and skills you learned years ago may no longer be considered “best practice” for basic life-saving or first aid. The medical use of a tourniquet has gone from a lifesaver, to anathema as a “guaranteed amputation,” only to eventually find favor again as one of the most effective ways to prevent rapid blood loss in an extremity and thus preserve life. Even basic CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) has gone through numerous evolutions in just the past few decades.

Many hunters are just now returning to the fields and woods to check on how things have fared on their plots over the spring and summer. This is just a friendly reminder to be careful out there. Less than scrupulous folks take advantage of wild lands that see little human activity during much of the year.

Texas deer hunters discover 18K marijuana plantsMadison County Sheriff Travis Neeley says a group of hunters were setting up deer blinds when they discovered the plants on Friday. The sheriff’s office eventually confiscated 18,400 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $9 million.

Luckily, anyone who had been around tending the plants wasn’t there when they were discovered. Always look for signs of trespassers and squatters when returning to private lands. Many public lands are also used for operations like this set up deep in the brush far from prying eyes… right where hunters go to get away from the crush of people when gun season opens up.

Hot off the presses, Thompson/Center has issued a recall for their Icon, Venture, and Dimension rifles. If you have one of these rifles, contact Tompson/Center for recall instructions.

Thompson/Center Arms™ has identified a condition that may cause the safety lever on certain ICON®, VENTURE™ and DIMENSION® rifles to bind, preventing the safety from becoming fully engaged. In this situation, closing the bolt may move the safety to the fire position. The rifle will not fire unless the trigger is pulled. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are taking this action to recall the rifles so that the firearm can be inspected by our technicians to ensure that the safety lever functions as designed.

This recall applies to all ICON, VENTURE and DIMENSION rifles manufactured by Thompson/Center Arms prior to June 13, 2013.

STOP USING YOUR RIFLE AND RETURN IT TO THOMPSON/CENTER AT ONCE.

Because the safety of our customers is our utmost concern, we ask that you stop using your rifle until we have an opportunity to inspect the safety lever to ensure its proper function.

To facilitate the inspection and repair, if necessary, of your rifle safety lever, please contact Thompson/Center’s customer service department to receive instructions and a pre-paid shipping label for the return of your rifle to Thompson/Center. Thompson/Center will repair the rifle at no cost to you, and return it to you as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Additional information will be available shortly on our website at www.tcarms.com. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this recall, please contact Thompson/Center at (800) 713-0355.

For CASES, the Lot Number is stenciled on the outside of the case; and,
For BOXES, the Lot Number is stamped on the inside flap of the box.
If you have any of the ammunition identified above, immediately discontinue use and contact Remington at 1-800-243-9700, Prompt #3. We will arrange for return shipment and, upon receipt, will send replacement ammunition at no cost.

If you are unsure if you have one of these Lots or if you have mixed boxes of ammunition, please immediately discontinue use and contact Remington.

For any consumer questions or instructions on how to return product, contact the Consumer Service Department at 1-800-243-9700, Prompt #3.

Walther is issuing a recall on certain PK380 pistols that can discharge when the trigger is pulled even though the safety is engaged. Read on for details:

During an internal quality review, Carl Walther GmbH has identified a condition that may exist in certain PK380 pistols which may permit a round to be discharged if the trigger is pulled, despite engagement of the manual safety. Walther has found that engagement of the manual safety may not prevent firing of a chambered round when the trigger is pulled.

This recall applies to Walther PK380, .380 ACP pistols manufactured by Carl Walther GmbH from May through September 2012, which have a serial number range from PK101201 to PK112155.

STOP USING YOUR PISTOL AND RETURN IT TO WALTHERAMERICA AT ONCE.

Any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential to cause injury, and we ask that you stop using your pistol until we have an opportunity to inspect it to make certain that there is no condition which will allow the pistol to discharge with the safety engaged.

To facilitate the inspection and repair, if necessary, of your pistol, please contact Waltheramerica’s customer service department at 1-800-713-0356 to receive instructions and a call tag for the return of your pistol to Waltheramerica.

Additional information will be posted on Waltheramerica.com. If you have any questions about this recall, please contact Waltheramerica at 1-800-713-0356.

Most of us have seen videos online of “tactical” instructors teaching “Big Boy Rules” where someone is standing down range during live fire. Despite your thoughts on this, it’s almost universally a bad idea because things can and do go wrong, no matter how well trained the firearm operator is.

Case in point: Over the weekend I joined Ambulance Driver, Farm Dad and Farm Mom, Jennifer, and Evyl Robot at the Central Oklahoma Gunblogger Schutenfest. I had my AR-15 out there and we were banging steel at distances from 100-450 yards. Most of my shots were dead on, but every once in a while I spotted a round impacting the ground halfway between my shooting position and the target.

When that happens once, it’s easy to assume that it’s operator error and that the shot was pulled. But it happened again, and again, even when I know I called my shots reliably. So, I pulled out the chronograph and ran some rounds through it.

The first shot through the trap clocked in at 1173 FPS. This was XM855 Green Tip ammo, and typical muzzle velocity is in the neighborhood of 3,000 FPS. The next shot through the chrony clocked in at a more typical speed of 2895 FPS. The next one was normal as well, but then the fourth shot again clocked in at 1125 FPS.

I had found the source of my problems: a bad batch of ammo.

We were only shooting at steel, and nobody was down range. But if someone had been, the 15mph cross wind we were contending with could have easily blown the slower round off target and put someone in danger.

No matter how good the shooter is, things can and do go wrong. If you follow basic firearm and range safety, nobody gets hurt. If you don’t, people can be put in danger.

Firearm safety isn’t difficult. But it’s one of those things that, if you screw up, and if you screw up badly enough that you break more than one rule at a time, someone can get seriously injured, or even killed.

Jaxon from Gun Nuts Media posted this video over at the Gun Nuts website, and I felt it good enough to share. It’s a compilation of the worst and most egregious violations of firearm safety as seen across the internet.

Be warned, some parts of the video are disturbing.

The saddest part of all of this is how stupidly EASY it is to avoid having an “accident” like one of those shown. In fact, Colonel Jeff Cooper codified the rules of firearm safety with just four simple guidelines.

All guns are always loaded.

Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy

Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target

Be sure of your target

That’s it, just those four simple rules. In fact, if violate these rules singly, it’s quite likely that you will still avoid damaging yourself or anyone or anything else. The problems begin when you break one or more of Col. Coopers rules at the same time.

Point a gun in an unsafe direction but kept your finger off of the trigger? Not a smart idea, and generally considered to be quite rude, but nobody will die from that. Break both rules at once? Then we’ve got trouble.

Most accidents involving guns boil down to a lack of education. Get training, learn these rules, take them to heart, and then teach your kids, teach your family, and teach your kids.